Abris Capital Partners, a leading mid-market private equity firm focused on Central and Eastern Europe, has invested in Patent Co., a rapidly-growing animal nutrition solutions provider headquartered in Southeastern Europe. The transaction was closed on November 9, 2015.

Founded by the Perović family and managed by Radivoje and Miodrag Perović, the Company is based in Mišićevo in northern Serbia, near the Hungarian and Croatian borders. From this location, Patent Co. effectively covers the farming heartlands of Serbia, Croatia and Hungary, which gives Patent Co. access to raw materials, as well as a large number of regional customers, critical to the company’s historic and future development.

Through its state-of-the-art production facilities, Patent Co. produces a sophisticated range of high-quality products, which are exported to cover 25 countries worldwide, including countries in Europe, Asia, and South and Central America. The company’s current production portfolio includes: compound feeds, premixes/minerals, protein concentrates and high-value add feed additives, several of which are patented in both Serbia and the European Union.

As part of the transaction, Abris Capital Partners will provide Patent Co. with expansion capital, inter alia for a new state-of-the-art compound feed plant, which will be the most modern of its kind in Southeast Europe.

Radivoje Perović, who will continue to serve as Executive Manager of Patent Co., expects the new partnership to strengthen the Company’s position in both its regional and global markets:

“We are delighted to have Abris Capital Partners as a partner. Together with Abris, and with their strong backing, we will be able to more than triple existing production capacity, add managerial talent to the existing strong team, further improve corporate governance and take advantage of growth opportunities both in regional and global markets. We made these investments with the objective of taking the animal nutrition business to a new level of development and, following the commissioning of the new compound feed facility, we will reach an annual compound feed capacity of 150 thousand tons. With Abris’ help, we will also be able to further invest in, and significantly expand, our existing global sales of Patent Co.’s highly innovative additive products.”

Milorad Anđelić, Investment Director, Abris Capital Partners:

“We were impressed by Radivoje and Miodrag’s entrepreneurial abilities, the existing Management team in Patent Co., and their track record in building a highly innovative, profitable business. Finding regional and global growth prospects in the industry to be very attractive, and recognizing Patent Co.’s unique value proposition, we are confident of the company’s ability to successfully capture further growth. At Abris Capital Partners, we have the necessary experience in helping family businesses achieve their full potential. We look forward to fostering further innovation as well as leveraging our global network, financial expertise, and experience in implementing corporate governance, to help Patent Co. achieve its full growth potential.